Elevating mechanism



Jan. 25, 1944.

1.. J. MEYER ELEVATING MECHANISM 2 Sfieets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 2, 1942 INVENTOR. LEO J. MEYER Jan. 25, 1944. L'.'J. MEYER ELEVATING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fil ed Jan. 2, 1942 INVENTOR LEO .J. MEYER Patented Jan. 25, 1944 ELEVATING MECHANISM Leo J. Meyer, San Antonio, Tex.,, assignor to The Champion Pecan Machine, Company, San

Antonio, Tex.,

a corporation .of Texas Application January 2, 1942, Serial No. 425,402

3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to elevating mechanisms and more specifically to mechanisms of the type comprising an assembly made up of sprocket wheels, sprocket chains operable over the sprocket wheels, and conveyor buckets supported by the sprocket chains for movement therewith and adapted to receive the articles to be elevated by the elevating mechanism, an important object of the invention being to provide an elevating mechanism of this type which includes conveyor buckets of such improved construction and arrangement that the handling of the articles to be conveyed by the elevating mechanism, and particularly the reception of said articles by the buckets and the discharge of said articles from the buckets, is facilitated.

Another important object of the invention resides in the construction and arrangement of the housing of the improved elevating mechanism, which includes a part that is adjustable with respect to another portion of said housing for the purpose of tightening the sprocket chains of the improved elevating mechanism.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved elevating mechanism.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical section of the improved elevating mechanism taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a, vertical section of the improved elevating mechanism, taken on line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a. perspective of one of the buckets of the improved elevating mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on line 7-1 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary elevation of a portion of the chain and bucket assembly taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings, wherein is shown for the purpose of illustration, merely, one embodiment of the invention, A designates the improved elevating mechanism generally. The elevating mechanism includes a vertically disposed housing I which is preferably of rectangular shape in horizontal section and comprises an upstanding portion 2, that includes a boot portion 3 at its lower end, and a head portion 4 at its upper end. The boot portion 3 of the housing portion 2 is provided with a chute 5 which extends outwardly from said boot portion, said chute being open at its top and being provided withinwardly and downwardly inclined walls which cause articles introduced into the chute to. slide down the inclined walls into the boot of the housing portion 2, as will presently appear herein. The boot of 1 the housing portion 2, at the side thereof opposite to the location of the chute 5, is provided with a clean-out door 6 which is suitably sup-- ported in place for ready displacement. The. housing portion 2 is provided with a hood portion 8 which partially overhangs the chute 5 in vertically spaced relation with respect thereto, and at its lower end the housing I is suitably secured to spaced base members 9. At the upper end of the housing portion2 a rectangular memher so is supported thereby, the lower portion of said member being extended into the upper portion of the housing portion 2 and being secured thereto, and the upper portion of said member extending upwardly beyond the upper end of the housing portion 2 and being of slightly greater transverse dimensions than said lower portion of said member.

The head 4 of the housing I of the improved elevating mechanism A is likewise preferably of rectangular shape in horizontal section and the lower portion of this head is extended into the enlarged, upper portion of the member Ill. At the side of the head 4 which is disposed at the side of the housing I opposite to the side thereof at which the chute 5 is located, said head is provided with an opening I l at which an outwardly and downwardly extended discharge spout i2 is fixed to the head. The head 4 of the housing I is secured to the housing portion 2 by means which provides for vertical adjustment of said head with respect to said housing portion 2. This means comprises a pair of spaced lugs I3 formed on the member [0 at opposite sides of the housing I and externally of said member, and each of said lugs has extended .upwardly therefrom a fixed, screwthreaded stud l4. The head 4 is provided with spaced extensions l5 at opposite sides thereof one of which: is related to each screwthreaded stud l4, each extension having formed therethrough a smooth opening through which the associated stud extends. ScreWthreadedly mounted on each of. the screwthreaded studs I3 is a pair of nuts Iii one of which contacts with the lower face of the associated extension l5 and the other of which contacts with the upper face of said associated extension.

Because of the arrangement described it is obvious that the head 4 of the housing may be raised or lowered with respect to the housing portion 2 by manipulating the nuts IS in the;-

power shaft of the motor as.

proper directions to obtain the desired adjustment of said head, the lower portion of said head sliding in telescopic relation relative to the upper portion of the member If! during such adjustment of the head.

Supported for rotation at opposite side walls of the boot 3 of the housing I is a shaft 11, and supported for rotation the head 4 of the housing is a similar shaft l8. The shafts I1 and I8 have fixedly mounted thereon spaced sprocket wheels [9 and 20, respectively, the pair of sprocket wheels of each shaft being alined vertically with the sprocket wheels of the other shaft. Operating over the alined pairs of sprocket wheels is a pair of spaced, endless, sprocket chains 2| and 22, and supported by and between the spaced sprocket chains 2| and 22 is a plurality of conveyor buckets 23. Each of the buckets 23 is secured to the spaced sprocket chains by means of extensions 23 projected from adjacent links of the spaced sprocket chains, which extensions of links of the spaced sprocket chains are suitably secured to the buckets. to rotary movement by a worm 24 which meshes with a worm wheel 25 fixed to said shaft is, said worm 24 being fixed to an operating shaft 26 on which is fixedly mounted a pulley 21, and this pulley being subjected to rotary movement by an electric motor 28, or other suitable prime mover, through the instrumentality of a power transmission belt 29 which operates over the pulley 21 and over a smaller pulley 2'! mounted on the The motor 23 is supported by a bracket 28' which is fixed to the head 4 of the housing I.

As has been hereinbefore stated, an important feature of the invention has to do with the construction and mode of operation of the buckets 23 of the improved elevating mechanism, the construction and arrangement of said buckets being shown to the best advantage in Figs. 4 and 5. Each of the buckets 23 includes opposed side walls 23a, a rear wall 23b, and divergent walls 230 and 23d which extend outwardly from opposed portions of said rear wall 232). By preference the buckets are formed from sheet metal, the material from which a bucket is roduced being cut, shaped, and formed to provide the bucket. The wall 23c of each bucket is so related to the opposed, side walls 23a of the bucket that opposed wing portions 23c are provided which extend outwardly with respect to the wall 230 at opposite sides thereof. Also, as is shown clearly in Figs. 4 and 5, the wall 23d of each bucket is provided with a curved extension 23f at its outer end.

In the operation of the improved elevating mechanism disclosed herein the motor 28 transmits rotary motion to the pulley 21 and the shaft 26 through the instrumentality of the belt 29. The worm 22, which; is fixedly mounted on the shaft 26, rotates the worm wheel 25 and the shaft H! on which said worm wheel is fixedly mounted, with the result that the rotating sprocket wheels 29, that are fixed to the shaft l8, subject the sprocket chains 2! and 22 to traveling movement in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, said sprocket chains traveling about the upper sprocket wheels 20 and the lower sprocket wheels IS in engaged relation with respect to the teeth thereof in the usual manner. By referring to Figs. 1, 3, and 4, it will be noted that the rear wall of the chute and the lower portion of said chute are provided with by opposite side walls of V The shaft i8 is subjecteda vertically extended recess as indicated at 5, and the buckets 23 supported by the outer, upwardly moving, flight of the sprocket chains 2| and 22 pass upwardly through this recess 5', and through an alined opening 2' formed in the front wall of the housing portion 2. The result of this situation is that as each bucket passes upwardly through the rear portion of the chute 5 it will receive a full load of articles contained within the chute. Theloaded buckets move upwardly from the chute 5 and about the upper sprocket wheels 20, and the contents of said buckets are discharged into the discharge spout l2 as they move downwardly relative to the rear portions of said sprocket wheels 29.

While the improved elevating mechanism disclosed herein may be employed to elevate various types of articles it is adapted particularly for use in elevating pecans in pecan processing plants, and therefore the construction and arrangement of the buckets 23 are important. It will be noted by referring toFig. 4 that as the buckets move upwardly through the rear portion of the chute 5, and beyond same, the curved extension 23 of each bucket extends upwardly into substantial contact with the lower face of the wall 230 of the bucket located immediately above said each bucket, and said curved extension of said each bucket is disposed between the wings 23s of the bucket immediately above. The result of this situation is that no openings or passageways are present between adjacent buckets throughwhich pecans, or other articles being elevated by the mechanism, may pass to the interior of the housing I. Likewise, as the loaded buckets 23 pass over the rear portions of the sprocket wheels 2!] to the unloading position at the location of the discharge spout l2, the curved extension 23? of each bucket assumes the position shown in Fig. 4 where it serves with the associated wings 23c as a slide or guide that directs the articles being discharged from the bucket onto the wall 230 of the bucket located immediately beneath the bucket being unloaded, said articles being directed by said wall 230 of said lower bucket into the discharge spout l2.

From the foregoing it is plain that because of the construction, arrangement, and operation of the buckets 23 of the improved elevating mechanism, the articles being elevated are handled at all times in a controlled manner so that spilling or displacement of the articles from the buckets is reduced to a minimum.

When it is desired to tighten the sprocket chains 2| and 22 this may be accomplished, as has already been explained herein, byadjusting the nuts Hi to raise the head 4 of the housing of the elevating mechanism relative to the housing portion 2 thereof. Additionally, the bearings 30 which supportthe lower shaft I! may be adjusted downwardly, when desired, by manipulating the set screws, 3|, shown to the best advantage in Fig. 2. These set screws are screwthreadedly supported by extensions 32 projected from the boot 3 of .the housing of the elevatingmechanism, and contact at their lower ends with top portions of the bearings 30. By manipulating the set screws 3| the bearings 30 may be moved downwardly, portions 30 of said bearings which extend through vertically elongated openings 33 formed in the opposed side walls of the boot 3 moving downwardly relative to said elongated openings. The bearings 30 include also plate portions 34 which cover the elongated openings 33. a

I claim:

1. An elevating mechanism comprising an elongated vertically disposed housing which includes a boot portion at its lower end and a head portion at its upper end, said head portion being supported for movement relative to the remainder of the housing longitudinally of said housing in such manner that the force of gravity tends to move said head portion downwardly with respect to the remainder of the housing, rotary means supported for rotation within said boot portion of said housing, rotary means supported for rotation within said head portion of said housing, endless flexible means supported by said rotary means of said boot portion and said head portion of the housing for traveling movement through the elongated housing, buckets supported by said endless flexible means for movement therewith, an article receptacle disposed adjacent to said boot portion of the housing from which articles are received by said buckets, an article discharge member disposed adjacent to said head portion of the housing which receives articles from said buckets for discharge from the housing, means for adjusting said head portion of the housing upwardly relative to the remainder of the housing to regulate the tautness of said endless flexible means, and a prime mover supported by said head portion of the housing for subjecting the rotary means therein to rotary movement to impart traveling movement to said endless flexible means.

2. An elevating mechanism comprising an elongated vertically disposed housing which includes a boot portion at its lower end and a head portion at its upper end, said head portion being supported for movement relative to the remainder of the housing longitudinally of said housing, rotary means supported for rotation within said boot portion of said housing, rotary means supported for rotation within said head portion of said housing, endless flexible means supported by said rotary means of said boot portion and said head portion of the housing for traveling movement through the elongated housing, buckets supported by said endless flexible means for movement therewith, an article receptacle disposed adjacent to said boot portion of the housing from which articles are received by said buckets, an article discharge member disposed adjacent to said head portion of the housing which receives articles from said buckets for discharge from the housing, means for adjusting said head portion of the housing relative to the remainder of the housing to regulate the tautness of said endless flexible means, said adjusting means comprising screwthreaded elements nonrotatably fixed to the housing portion disposed below said head portion, means extended from said head portion and having apertures through which said screwthreaded elements extend, and nuts mounted on said screwthreaded elements and engaging said apertured means, and means supported by said head portion of the housing including an electric motor for subjecting the rotary means therein to rotary movement to impart traveling movement to means.

3. An elevating said endless flexible endless flexible elements supported by the rotary elements ofthe head portion and the boot portion of the housing for traveling movement through the elongated housing, buckets supported by said pair of endless flexible elements for movement therewith, an article receptacle disposed adjacent to said boot portion of the housing from which articles are received by said buckets, an article discharge member disposed adjacent to said head portion of the housing which receives articles from said buckets for discharge from the housing, means for adjusting said head portion of the housing relative to the remainder of the housing to regulate the tautness of said endless flexible elements, said adjusting means comprising screwthreaded elements non-rotatably fixed to the housing portion disposed below said head portion, lugs extended from said head portion and having apertures through which said screwthreaded elements extend, and nuts mounted on said screwthreaded elements and engaging said apertured lugs, and means supported by the head portion of the housing for subjecting the shaft of said head portion to rotary movement, said means comprising an electric motor and means for transmitting rotary motion from said electric motor to said shaft of said head portion of the LEO J. MEYER.

, housing. 

